latracey

Ducks 34 - Colorado 10 2 turnovers, 5 sacks, 250 yards

https://www.latimes.com/sports/ucla/story/2021-10-25/chip-kelly-officials-blew-field-goal-call-ucla-loss-oregon Chip Kelly believes a UCLA field goal attempt by the Bruins was called no good by the officials when it actually went through the uprights according to video replays that he saw after the game. I thought this was interesting because I remember that field goal attempt in the game, and from my angle it looked good. It wasn't replayed or made a big deal of at the time, so I thought it was just a funny camera angle. Did the Pac 12 officials get it wrong? It wouldn't surprise me.

I definitely DO NOT think it's safe to say that Brown has "turned a corner". His terrible interceptions in the 4th quarter almost cost Oregon the game. Regardless of how well he played leading up to those picks, the fact that he threw not one, but two, demonstrates that he is still lacking critical vision of the field, timing, and decision making skills. The fact that those pass plays, especially the last one, were even called also causes me to question the coaches, who you would think would be well aware of Brown's strengths and weakness. We certainly all are. Have the coaches turned a corner? I think not. I don't buy the "we trying to be aggressive and put the game away" BS. You are leading the game by 3 points. Your quarterback just threw a pick that resulted in a UCLA touchdown that put them back into the game. There are 3 minutes left, UCLA only has one time out left, and you are in field goal range. The more I think about that play call, the more it has me shaking my head. It's clear to me that there is much about Brown's game that still needs to improve, but I'm more concerned about Oregon's coaches who have not seemed to turn a critical corner when it comes to wisely managing the end of games. Seriously, we are talking about the last 3 games in a row. Let's hope it's not even an issue in the Colorado game. It certainly shouldn't be.

93 - 26 is the final score. I think this Lady Ducks team is going to rock this this year.

I feel like, with every game, Oregon has learned key lessons that make them a little bit better. For instance, it seems like Cristobal trusted JoMo's game strategy more for the UCLA game with great results. Maybe that was health related, but I feel like it was an important corner that was turned. In addition, I feel like Oregon's defense also turned an important corner in the UCLA game. The line is becoming healthy, KT#5 played an entire game, and the backs are playing better. It also seems that the defense as a whole is playing better as a unit, and understanding the defensive scheme better. The two unknowns that will affect Oregon's success in the games to come will be injuries and emotion. There are several key players, especially on offense, who are key to Oregon's success, especially vs Utah and Oregon State. It's important that Oregon finds a way to stay healthy for the rest of the season. The other factor is Oregon's ability to realize that they can lose any game in the Pac 12 if they aren't up for the game because every team is going to bring the juice to beat Oregon. Victory against every team left will take a disciplined effort from players and coaching staff. Playing Oregon is the only bowl game Colorado and probably WSU are going to get. They may not be any competition on paper, but neither were Arizona, Cal, or even Stanford for that matter. Oregon needs to find a way to truly ignore all of the back ground noise, and get up for each and every game they have left, beginning with the one this Saturday.

The fact that Oregon has been able to successfully mix and match their offensive line due to injuries to the extent that Oregon has done it this year is nothing short of amazing. It says a lot about the high intelligence of O-line players and their ability to keep track of the assignments of every O-line position. Landman not being able to play is a huge loss for Colorado's defense. Still, I'm looking for a much closer game than the oddsmakers are predicting because that's been the story of the Ducks all season long so far.

I also agree with CJ that the Thomas/Mariota teams were the most entertaining. They performed a lot more consistently on offense, defense, and in respect to coaching, and Thomas' brilliance and speed was electrifying to watch. The best word for this year's Ducks is mystifying in an interesting way. They are filled with talent, yet unable to play above the level of any of their opponents. First and foremost, some of the coaching decisions have truly had me scratching my head. It seems that certain basic mistakes in clock management and play selection at given moments in the game would be digested and learned; only to reappear at key moments in subsequent games. Case in point was the decision to loft the ball into the end zone into double coverage with 3 minutes left on the clock, a three point lead, for the 30 yard line, well within field goal range. UCLA only had one time out left at this point. It's an even more baffling decision when you consider who the quarterback is. Wasn't throwing the ball late in the game when a running play would have drained more precious time from the clock the other team needed every second of to win also a key issue in the Stanford game? Also mystifying and frustrating to me is the lack of poise shown by Cristobal on the sidelines and in his comments to the media. Center stage temper tantrums directed at players and officials just aren't my thing. Discipline and poise under pressure, as was demonstrated by coaches like Bellotti, Kelly, Helfrich, and Jonathan Smith for that matter, is a much better look from my perspective. Cristobal "doesn't want to hear that s...t" when it comes to fans booing his coaching decisions, but also points out that he doesn't pay any attention to the other ways fans make their frustrations known. One wonders if he realizes who is paying his 4 million a year salary and footing the bill for new practice facilities. It comes off as arrogant in a time when the program needs to be inviting and inclusive of fan support. One wonders how much what we see along those lines is just the tip of the iceberg, and how that lack of discipline and poise translates to the problems Cristobal teams seem to have with penalties that end up killing drives on offense, or maintaining drives on defense time and time again. 6 wins and 1 loss. What's not to love? Fun to cheer for? You bet!! While I think the rest of the season will be exciting, this isn't the team that I think one can be rest assured about how things are going to turn out. I don't think for a minute any team left on the roster is going to be easy, especially Oregon State. Maybe that's what makes them one of the most interesting teams to follow.

I HATED the uniforms at first, but they grew on me by the end of the game. Love them or hate them, I have a funny feeling that this is only the beginning. There are endless color combinations of base color and splatter to choose from in Oregon's uniform arsenal.

I totally agree with Utah Duck's observations. Watching this year's defense has been maddening at times because they play well on 1st and 2nd downs, but allow far too many 3rd down conversions causing the grinding and gnashing of my teeth. The good news for the future is that KT#5 and some other key players were unable to play due to injury or suspension for a good portion of the season so far. They were as close to a complete unit as they have been vs UCLA and, if that trend continues, I look to see their statistic vastly improve over the rest of this season.

KT#5 is starting to settle into his groove as the season goes on. I'm hoping he can stay healthy for the rest of the season. As he proved in the UCLA game, he is a major force of disruption who is just plain fun to watch in action. He's one of those special players who only come along once in a long while.

I'm not a fan of booing your home team in their home stadium, but I understand that the booing that happened in the Cal game was directed at coaches who are intent on "shutting out the outside noise"; even though a lot of that "noise" is being made by the people whose support they depend on. That said, I agree with Mr. FishDuck. It appears that booing is the only way fans are able to express their frustration and displeasure with the program to coaches who actively tune out the other avenues fans have to express their opinions. I'm also not a fan of coaches who throw temper tantrums directed at players and officials. I put it in the same category of booing as far as low class behavior. It shows poor leadership and a lack of self discipline in my humble opinion; two things that you'd hope your coach would be trying to model to his players.

I can't resist this chance to be an armchair coach. The first play that I found frustrating was the coaching decision to go for it on 4th and 2 in the first quarter with the ball well within field goal range. How many times are we going to leave points on the field only to have those points come back and haunt us later in the game? When will Cristobal learn?? I also agree that the last pass AB lofted into the end zone that was easily picked off in the 4th quarter was a play that shouldn't have even been called at that juncture in the game, especially considering that Oregon was leading and in field goal range. The objective should have been to safely run the ball again to eat up as much clock as possible and then kick the field goal. That all said, it was a great win for the Ducks against a good team on the road. KT#5 is a force of disruption, and Travis Dye has become the money man in the red zone. I was glad he yelled for a running play right before he scored his first TD. DJ James final interception was a thing of pure beauty. He's come a long way from his bone headed air rifle incident. Go Ducks !!

It's true that Moorhead compared this year's statistics with the statistics of the 2019 team, but he didn't do it to air frustrations with the present system; he was trying to make the point that this team's offense, and Anthony Brown, isn't/aren't as bad as many are making it out to be. His point was that the Pac 12 Champion and Rose Bowl winning 2019 team was lead by NFL great Justin Herbert whose statistics are comparable to AB's statistics so far this year. I'm sorry, but it's a point that's completely lost on me. I saw Justin Herbert play and I've also seen Anthony Brown play and, sorry coach, but Justin Herbert was/is a much better quarterback in every single comparison you want to make. Herbert had a much better vision of the field and was better at checking off receivers, made much better RPO decisions, was a much more accurate passer, and was much faster when he decided to take off and run. Plus, he had the good sense to slide at the end of his runs that didn't end up out of bounds. What Moorhead didn't point out is that most of the teams Oregon has played so far have losing records and have not had very good defenses. It's going to be interesting to see how AB and Oregon's offense do against the better teams on their schedule starting with their game on Saturday against UCLA.

I'm with Mr. FishDuck. The similarities I see between what Oregon's offense looked like with Arroyo and what the "new and Improved" offense looks like under "offensive genius" Joe Moorhead are too numerous to be a coincidence. It's become painfully obvious over the course of the Cristobal era that the offense run by Oregon is heavily influenced by the notions of Mario Cristobal. Sadly, I'm guessing that Moorhead leaving to be replaced by anyone will result in more of the same as long as Cristobal is at the helm.

Rumor has it that Cristobal is one of the top names being considered by LSU. I can't imagine that after paying off Coach O that LSU will be able to afford Cristobal's buy out, but he's definitely being considered. Could Cristobal be enticed to go coach one of the major players in the SEC? One thing is for certain, Cristobal is starting to feel the heat of unsatisfied Duck fans whose criticism of his coaching decisions and players has definitely amped up this season. People in the know have said that Mario was FURIOUS that fans booed his team in Autzen on Saturday night, which isn't surprising. The sledding ahead is going to be interesting.

I'm thinking John Gruden is probably done with football in any capacity for a long, long time. As far as Mariota goes, he has to conquer the injury bug and, at this point, it's anybody's guess if he will. Gruden really liked Mariota and made it a point to keep him around. I doubt that that will be the case with the incoming coaching regime.